‘Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,’ declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ‘would be doing the world a large favour!’
It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which comes back to haunt the clergyman just a few hours later – when the Colonel is found shot dead in the clergyman’s study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe.
The first Miss Marple mystery, one which tests all her powers of observation and deduction.
Review
I finally got to a Miss Marple novel in my Agatha Christie challenge. I have been really excited about reading the Miss Marple books because I always loved the TV series. I find Miss Marple the perfect cosy mystery.
Leonard Clement is the local vicar of St Mary Mead and is married to Griselda. St Mary Mead is a sleepy little hamlet where everyone knows everyone’s business and Leonard is regularly asked for guidance on all matters.
Colonel Protheroe has been found dead in Leonard’s study. However, as Miss Marple soon begins to realise almost everyone in St Mary Mead had a motive to kill the Colonel. The police who are assigned to the case are quite useless which is a typical trait of a Christie book and one that I always look forward to because I always have a good laugh at the mistakes the police make.
Miss Marple is on the case and she clearly already has an idea who committed the murder but she tells Leonard that she has seven suspects. Miss Marple annoys the police and always appears as a little old lady who is everyone’s neighbour and friend. Nobody sees her as a threat.
I did enjoy this book but I didn’t find it up to Christie’s usual standards. Considering this novel is a Miss Marple book I did find that Miss Marple was hardly in it and would have liked to have seen more of her. Griselda rather got on my nerves and I found her rather useless and not the best wife for a vicar. I really hope my next Miss Marple book features more of Miss Marple. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. She also wrote the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap. She also wrote 6 novels under the name Mary Westmacott.
Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always, allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more.
But Austen wasn’t a lone genius. She wrote at a time of great experimentation for women writers—and clues about those women, and the exceptional books they wrote, are sprinkled like breadcrumbs throughout Austen’s work. Every character in Northanger Abbey who isn’t a boor sings the praises of Ann Radcliffe. The play that causes such a stir in Mansfield Park is a real one by the playwright Elizabeth Inchbald. In fact, the phrase “pride and prejudice” came from Frances Burney’s second novel Cecilia. The women that populated Jane Austen’s bookshelf profoundly influenced her work; Austen looked up to them, passionately discussed their books with her friends, and used an appreciation of their books as a litmus test for whether someone had good taste. So where had these women gone? Why hadn’t Romney—despite her training—ever read them? Or, in some cases, even heard of them? And why were they no longer embraced as part of the wider literary canon?
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes—women writers who were erased from the Western canon—to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth—and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favourite novels.
Review
As soon as I saw this book I put it on my birthday list and my wonderful husband bought it for me. It was on my TBR pile for just over a week before I started reading it as I couldn’t resist.
I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. The first thing I liked was the layout of the book as each chapter focuses on one of the authors that Jane Austen was known to have read. We get a good history of each author and what books, plays or collections of poems they wrote. We also learn about Jane Austen and how her life linked with these authors. I also really enjoyed learning about the reasons these women chose to write.
The other element I enjoyed was learning a bit about the rare book trade and how rare book dealers work. I enjoyed learning about the different editions that Romney collected, how she hunted them down, purchased them and appreciated them. I loved learning about rare editions of Austen novels and first editions of the authors focused on in the book. I also loved learning about how books were published in Austen’s time, how the print runs ran and what the paper and binding was made out of.
The only problem I had with this book was that as soon as I started reading this book I started a list of all the books these authors had written with the plan of reading them myself one day. This means my wish list of books has grown hugely. I have actually read a few off the list because I had an amazing English teacher who introduced me to the work of Ann Radcliffe and I became a fan of Frances Burney earlier this year. However, there are still plenty of books left for me to collect and read. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and it is definitely one of my top reads of 2025.
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About the author
Rebecca Romney is a rare book dealer and the cofounder of Type Punch Matrix, a rare book company based in Washington, DC. She is the rare books specialist on the HISTORY Channel’s show Pawn Stars, and the cofounder of the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize. She is a generalist rare book dealer, handling works in all fields, from first editions of Jane Austen to science fiction paperbacks. Her work as a bookseller or writer has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, Variety, The Paris Review, and more. In 2019, she was featured in the documentary on the rare book trade, The Booksellers. She is on the Board of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the faculty of the Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS-Minnesota).
You know her name, you know her story. Just not the right one.
Within the depths of the Underworld the formidable snake-haired Gorgon has finally had enough. Tired of being eternally and unjustly brandished a villain, Medusa has found the courage to face her tragic past and speak out. Determined to expose the centuries of lies surrounding her name, Medusa gives unparalleled insight into her cursed life, from her earliest memories and abandonment at birth, right through to her tragic and untimely death at the hands of the hero Perseus. Through telling her story, Medusa finally reveals the lost truth behind antiquity’s most infamous monster.
Review
Medusa is one of my favourite characters from the ancient Greek myths so I am always excited to read a retelling. Hewlett has chosen the Roman poet Ovid’s version of Medusa to base her retelling on.
This version of Medusa is an interesting take on the story because Medusa is telling her story from the depths of the underworld. She is putting the story straight after centuries of being unjustly portrayed as the villain. I would have liked to know why she chose now to put the story straight but sadly that is never explained. She starts at the very beginning and tells the reader her whole life story.
The first thing I realised with this story was that for a whole life story the book is rather short and I found this a shame as I just felt there was potential for a lot more detail in the book. I think it could have easily been another 100 pages and it would have explored Medusa’s personality in greater detail. The other thing that I found rather jarring was the modern language that Medusa used. Even if Medusa has been in the underworld for thousands of years I doubt she would be using the type of language she does at times and I just found it rather unbelievable.
I liked that the story included Medusa’s mother Ceto in the book as the retellings I have read in the past only mention Ceto as her mother and we never hear of her again. I would have liked to have seen more of Euryale and Stheno because they are an important part of Medusa’s life but their characters weren’t really developed and we didn’t see much of them or how the relationship between the sisters developed over the years.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but I just found it way too short and lacking detail. The characters needed more development and the relationships between characters needed exploring more. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Rosie Hewlett is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of MEDEA and MEDUSA.
Having secured a First Class Honours degree in Classical Literature and Civilisation at the University of Birmingham, Rosie Hewlett has studied Greek mythology in depth and is passionate about unearthing strong female voices within the classical world. Rosie currently lives in Kent with her husband and is now a full-time author spending her days lost inside her favourite stories from mythology.
Rosie’s first traditionally published novel, Medea, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Her self-published debut novel, Medusa, won the Rubery Book of the Year award in 2021 and is being re-released in hardback for the first time in autumn 2025.
The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.
Review
I first read this book back in 2002 and I must admit it wasn’t my favourite Austen novel and is one of the reasons I never bothered to read it again. However, I decided to give it another go this year because I remembered part of it is set in Bath which is one of my favourite places. I absolutely loved the descriptions of places I love in Bath and kept telling my husband where the characters were.
I am so pleased I decided to give this book another go because I absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down. Northanger Abbey is a hilarious coming of age and satire novel of the gothic genre. Instead of finding Catherine annoying which I did in my first read I found her adorable, funny and when she let her imagination run away with her I cringed for her but also understood where she had come from. Catherine loved reading novels especially novels by Ann Radcliffe so how could she not help imagining crazy gothic mysteries around every corner. When I read The Mysteries of Udolpho I also saw the potential for gothic mysteries everywhere.
Henry Tilney is definitely a new favourite character of mine from the Austen novels. He loves reading novels and doesn’t dismiss Catherine’s love of reading gothic novels like the pompous John Thorpe who I really could not stand. Tilney is a true gentleman, he takes time with Catherine, he listens to her and enjoys her company. He also forgives Catherine’s mistakes.
Isabella Thorpe is a character much like her brother but it doesn’t become clear straight away. In fact the Thorpe family were just terrible full stop and I could easily see how Austen had been influenced by people she knew in society. The people in society she clearly disliked and had little time for.
I loved this book and would happily read it again and again. I really appreciated this book more now that I am older. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Jane Austen born 16th December 1775 died 18th July 1817 was an English novelist known for her six major novels. Austen’s novels are known for social comedy and accurate depiction of human relationships.
Tornado Onwubiko is one of seven people on Earth paired with sentient ships to explore and research the cosmos for twenty million euros. A decade of solitary life for a lifetime of wealth. Five years into the ten-year mission of total isolation comes a a temporary meetup among fellow travelers. A lot can happen in a week. For Tornado, who left a normal life behind, a little company can be life-changing.
Review
This is the fifth book of The Far Reaches collection and my first book by Okorafor. I also think this book is my favourite of the collection. I would have loved this to have been a full length novel as I just wanted to know so much more.
The first thing I loved about this short story was the science and technology involved in the living ships called Miris. The ships really reminded me of one of my favourite TV shows Farscape. I really found the Miris fascinating and I would love to have learned more about them. I loved how each Miri adapted to whomever lived in them and made things comfortable for them.
Each captain of the Miris is on the ship on their own although some do have pets, they also have AI on board to help them. I loved the story and found the characters unique and interesting. There were a couple of scenes that I found quite sad but they also just added to the story. The story might only be 45 pages long but it really packed a lot in and I enjoyed Okoafor’s idea of what humans travelling the universe would be like and what they might encounter. I really enjoyed this short story and I will definitely be reading more by Okorafor in the near future. I give this story 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. The more specific terms for her works are africanfuturism and africanjujuism, both terms she coined and defined. Born in the United States to two Nigerian (Igbo) immigrant parents and visiting family in Nigeria since she was a child, the foundation and inspiration of Nnedi’s work is rooted in this part of Africa. Her many works include Who Fears Death (winner of the World Fantasy Award and in development at HBO as a TV series), the Nebula and Hugo award winning novella trilogy Binti (in development as a TV series), the Lodestar and Locus Award winning Nsibidi Scripts Series, LaGuardia (winner of a Hugo and Eisner awards for Best Graphic Novel) and her most recent novella Remote Control. Her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ.
334 BC. Alexander the Great is just twenty-one years old when he sets out with a small army to challenge Persia, the largest and most powerful empire in the world.
Together, his Macedonian army marches East into the unknown – winning battles against overwhelming odds, storming impregnable fortresses from the Aegean through to India.
But there is another Alexander. Prince of the Macedonian royal house of Lyncestis, he becomes Alexander the Great’s general and most trusted friend.
Alexander of Lyncestis is between this friendship and the duty to avenge his murdered brothers. And he is under threat, too. Others – Persians, Greeks, Macedonians – see him him as a rival for the throne. For six years of conspiracy and battle, his life hangs by a thread.
For Alexander of Lyncestis is the Shadow King.
Review
Harry Sidebottom is a new author for me but when I saw this book I thought it sounded like a book that was perfect for me and I was right.
The first word I would use to describe this book is ‘immersive’. Once I started reading I was captured by the storyline and couldn’t put the book down. The writing is so descriptive that I could imagine I was there in all these incredible battle scenes. The characters are also all fantastically written. I also loved the maps at the beginning of the book which I could refer to and see how Alexander the Great’s campaign progressed. The other element I liked was the Historical Afterward which gave me more information.
The book is about Alexander of Lyncestis, a man torn between many loyalties but he gave an oath to Alexander the Great and that oath can not be broken. He is also Alexander the Great’s friend and trusted general who has fought in many battles for Alexander the Great. However, he is also a threat towards Alexander the Great and as the book goes on we see just how threatened Alexander the Great begins to feel.
The book is a brilliant retelling and I believe quite accurate account of the life and deeds of Alexander of Lycestis which has spurred me on to do my own research. Alexander the Great is a character from history that I don’t know much about but after reading this book I did some further research into him and plan on reading some nonfiction books to learn more. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and will definitely be reading more by Harry Sidebottom in the near future.
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About the author
Harry Sidebottom is Lecturer in Ancient History at Merton College, Oxford, and part-time lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. He has written for and contributed to many publications, including Classical Review, Journal of Roman Studies, and War and Society in the Roman World.
An inquisitive life-form finds there’s more to existence than they ever dreamed in an imaginative short story by New York Times bestselling and Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Ann Leckie.
On a far-off colony, humans tower over the local species who grow the plants they need. Narr keeps the workers in line—someone has to. But when Narr learns just how short-lived their species is, the little alien embarks on a big adventure to find out why their people die and how to stop it. Stubborn and hopeful, Narr has a plan for the locals, for humans, and for the future.
Ann Leckie’s The Long Game is part of The Far Reaches, a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.
Review
This is the fourth book of The Far Reaches collection which I have been really enjoying so far. The Far Reaches collection features six short stories by different authors. This is my first introduction into Ann Leckie and I was not disappointed.
To begin with I was a little bit confused by this story because it begs the question of what is the point behind it because at first it just seems like a pointless tale about a little alien. However, once I got into this short story I realised it asked quite a few big questions.
Narr is a native species of a planet that humans have colonised. Narr’s species are subordinate to the humans and basically do all the work that the humans don’t want to do. Narr keeps the workers (his own people) in line for the humans. However, Narr soon begins to realise that his species are very short lived in comparison to the humans and that there must be a reason behind it.
This story is only 28 pages long but it packs a punch and asks a lot of questions. I really enjoyed it and I will definitely be on the look out for more books by Ann Leckie. I give this little short story 4 out of 5 Dragons.
The Teashop Girls is a warm and moving tale of friendship and love in wartime, by the bestselling author of the Woolworths series, Elaine Everest.
It is early 1940 and World War Two has already taken a hold on the country. Rose Neville works as a Lyon’s Teashop Nippy on the Kent coast alongside her childhood friends, the ambitious Lily and Katie, whose fiancé is about to be posted overseas in the navy. As war creates havoc in Europe, Rose relies on the close friendship of her friends and her family.
When Capt. Benjamin Hargreaves enters the teashop one day, Rose is immediately drawn to him. But as Lyon’s forbids courting between staff and customers, she tries to put the handsome officer out of her mind.
In increasingly dark and dangerous times, Rose fears there may not be time to waste. But is the dashing captain what he seems?
Review
Now I will be honest, I have read this series in completely the wrong order. I read book two Christmas with the Teashop Girls back in 2021 and I really enjoyed it. I intended to read the next books in the series a lot earlier than this but I’m never great with a series. So for a recent holiday I downloaded this book to my Kindle and it was the perfect holiday read.
Set in the 1940’s the book introduces us to the characters Rose, Lily and Katie. Rose, Lily and Katie all live in Kent and have been friends since childhood and now all work at the Lyon’s Teashop as Nippy’s. The book focuses on ups and downs of the three friends lives but also the ups and downs of WWII and how the war influences people’s lives.
Katie has a fiance who is about to be posted overseas in the Navy but Rose and Lily are both single. However, when the handsome Benjamin Hargreaves enters Rose’s life she is immediately drawn to him. Benjamin isn’t just a handsome face he is also kind hearted and generous and willing to help anyone in need. Benjamin is a huge hit with whoever he meets.
I really enjoyed reading about Rose, Katie and Lily again but my favourite is Flora. Flora is Rose’s mom and she is wonderful. Flora is hardworking, running her guesthouse but also helping with the war effort in any way she can. Flora never stops and will help anyone who needs aid but she will also stand no messing from anyone.
Learning about the Lyon’s Teashop was really interesting in this book and I also enjoyed the book being set in WWII. I had forgotten how much I enjoy Everest’s work and I look forward to reading book 3 in the series. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Elaine Everest was born and brought up in northwest Kent and has written widely – both short stories and features – for women’s magazines. When she isn’t writing, Everest runs The Write Place creative writing school in Dartford Kent, and the blog for Romantic Novelists’ Association.
It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.
Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.
A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.
And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .
Review
I had this book preordered for ages as I absolutely love The Roots of Chaos series. When the book arrived I was very shocked how short the book was. After reading the two bricks A Day of Fallen Night and The Priory of the Orange Tree I was a little disappointed at how short Among the Burning Flowers is.
Among the Burning Flowers tells the story of the fall of Yscalin and how the once faithful kingdom came under draconic rule. The story is told from multiple points of view and I thought those voices were very well chosen. Melaugo is an outlaw and dragon hunter and a character who reappears in Priory of the Orange Tree. Sadly Melaugo’s point of view was dropped around half way through the book, which I really missed.
The bulk of the book is told from the point of view of Marosa who is the Donmata of Yscalin. Due to the bulk of the story being told from Marisa’s point of view her character had a lot more depth and back story that I really enjoyed. I also really enjoyed seeing just how much pressure she was under and just how difficult her life becomes. She is constantly on a knife edge.
I found it a shame that we didn’t get more from Melaugo but I thought it was clever that we got two points of view who were worlds apart. Marosa is royalty and lives a privileged life, Melaugo’s life is far from privileged and heavily influenced by the decisions made by royalty and the land’s rulers.
This book immediately hooked me in and I loved the descriptions of Marisa’s home, the idea of a land of flowers with a river of a lava through was fantastic. This book is beautifully written and my only complaint is that it was too short! I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Samantha Shannon is the New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Bone Season series. From 2010 to 2013 she studied English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford. Her fourth novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019), was her first outside of the series. It has sold over a million copies in English alone, and was a finalist in the Lambda Literary Awards 2020. Its standalone prequel, A Day of Fallen Night (2023), won the gold medal in the Fantasy category at the Ippy Awards 2024.
Samantha’s work has been translated into twenty-seven languages. Her most recent book is The Dark Mirror (2025), the fifth instalment in the Bone Season series.
Born into a world on fire, Godling Hekate has never known safety. After her parents are on the losing side of the war between the ruling Titans and new Olympian Gods, Hekate is taken by her mother Asteria to the Underworld, where Styx and Hades agree to raise her. Meanwhile, Asteria is pursued across the world by Zeus and Poseidon and, to escape their clutches, transforms herself into an island in a stormy sea.
Orphaned and alone, Hekate grows up amongst the horrors and beauties of the Underworld, desperate to find her divine purpose and a sense of belonging in the land of the dead.
When Hekate finally uncovers her powers and ascends to Goddess status, she realises that even the most powerful Olympians are terrified of her. But when immortal war breaks out again, threatening to destroy everything from Mount Olympus to the Underworld itself, the Goddess of witchcraft and necromancy is the only one who can bring the deadly conflict to an end. . .
Review
I was really intrigued about this book because I haven’t seen a retelling of Hekate’s story before so I bought the book hoping not to be disappointed. Thankfully I was not.
The first thing I loved about this book is that it is written in verse. There are full paragraphs occasionally but the bulk of the book is in verse and I loved it! I really thought it worked well and I think it really added to the atmosphere of the book.
So often with stories of the Greek Gods we get to learn about their most famous moments and rarely see them as children but with this story we see Hekate from birth and grow up into a young woman. I loved seeing her emotions unfold as she learned about her parents, her family and her abilities.
We also get to learn more about the Titans in this book and the war between the Titans and the Olympians which I enjoyed and would have loved to have had more of. The descriptions of the underworld were also excellent and I enjoyed seeing how Hades’ character developed through the story.
I have seen in some reviews that this book has been compared to Circe but I would disagree with that comparison. Both books have a unique tone and storytelling approach that makes that comparison unfair. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could have easily read it in one sitting if I had had the time. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and I look forward to the next book.
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About the author
Nikita Gill is a Kashmiri Sikh writer born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and brought up in Gurugram, Haryana in India. In her mid twenties, she immigrated to the South of England and worked as a carer for many years. She enjoys creating paintings, poems, stories, photos, illustrations and other soft, positive things. Her work has appeared in Literary Orphans, Agave Magazine, Gravel Literary Journal, Monkeybicycle, Foliate Oak, MusePiePress, Dying Dahlia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Eunoia Review, Corvus Review, After The Pause and elsewhere.
Lady Book Dragon 